Piper J3C accident near Fancy Gap, VA
On October 6, 2018, a Piper J3C (airplane) was involved in an accident near Fancy Gap, VA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- October 6, 2018
- Place
- Fancy Gap, VA
- Aircraft
- Piper J3C · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 36.638°N, 80.707°W
- NTSB ID
- 20181007X50731
Official records · ERA19FA003
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn October 6, 2018, about 1215 eastern daylight time, a Piper J3C-65, N38811, was substantially damaged after it impacted terrain near Fancy Gap, Virginia. The private pilot was fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed for the cross-country flight, which originated from Fayette Airport (WV59), Fayetteville, West Virginia, about 1100. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 and was destined for Twin Lakes Airport (8A7), Mocksville, North Carolina. According to information retrieved from one of the pilot's personal electronic devices, when the device was turned on and the ForeFlight application was started it showed that the pilot had entered a flight plan that noted "WV59 26NC 2100 FT." This indicated that the flight would depart from WV59 and fly to Booneville Airport (26NC), Booneville, North Carolina, which was about 22 nautical miles from the destination airport. The 2,100 ft indicated the planned altitude on the route of flight. Further, the ForeFlight application was displaying the map screen with a terrain cross-section overview, a "first strike" distance indicating 1 statute mile, and the highest point along the route indicating 3,800 ft mean sea level (msl), as shown in figure 1. According to ForeFlight, "first strike" was the distance "…from your origin or current position to where your first impact with terrain or an obstacle would be based on your planned altitude." Figure 1. ForeFlight information displa
Probable cause
The non-instrument-rated pilot's improper decision to undertake a flight into forecast instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and his subsequent decision to continue the flight after encountering IMC, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's depression and use of impairing/sedating medications, which resulted in poor decision-making.
More accidents in VA
- Boeing 757-200, Sep 11, 2001
- Beech B99, Sep 23, 1985
- Beech 65, Sep 10, 1995
- Beech 200, Oct 24, 2004
- Piper PA-31-310, Nov 14, 1982
Browse: Virginia · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
